SUMMARY
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino scientists led by Jonathan Anticamara and Fernando Siringan found extensive coral damage in Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, during a two-day marine scientific research early June.
Anticamara, a scientist at the Institute of Biology of the University of the Philippines, said the extent of coral damage in Escoda Shoal is tantamount to an “ecological disaster.”
“What we found on the first day is extensive [coral] bleaching…what we saw, what we documented across all areas we dived in had almost 100% of the corals dead. And they’re in different stages of dying,” Anticamara said in a mix of Filipino and English during a press conference on June 8, Saturday.
The marine biologist said that if they were given more time to survey m…